Supreme Court's affirmative action decision altering college prep practices for students
Supreme Court ruling affects college prep programs
Some say Thursday's Supreme Court ruling that struck down affirmative action in college admissions is leveling the playing field, while others feel it will result in driving inequity in education. Regardless, college prep programs are changing their approach to securing admissions for their students as a result.
After the Supreme Court moved to strike down affirmative action, college readiness programs are adjusting with the changes that'll roll out as a result.
Andy Lockwood, who runs a college prep company is one of them, telling his student clients to take a closer look at the colleges on their list.
"Mostly to reassess their odds of admission at certain colleges depending on how they look on paper and how they look ethically and their visual diversity," Lockwood said.
Certain groups like Asian Americans with higher standardized testing scores felt they were discriminated against under affirmative action and not getting admitted into Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
"Their decision to eliminate affirmative action to me is a foul judicial backhand to the face of black America," weighed in civil rights trial attorney Malcolm Ruff.
Michael Johnson, the President and CEO of Harlem Educational Activities Fund, (HEAF) says the move is re-energizing their effort to get more minority students over that admissions hurdle.
"We’re going to spend a lot of time fully focusing on making sure that kids are preparing themselves, building their confidence, understanding the dreams are there, the possibilities are there but the requirement is to put your time, your effort and your energy towards it," said Johnson.
The opinion was aimed at increasing fairness in admission.
However, according to Lockwood: "The college admissions process is not designed to be fair. It’s not only that underrepresented minorities were getting favorable treatment in the college admissions process. It's also legacies, recruited athletes, international students, and several other categories."
Universities who don't take it upon themselves to ensure diversity and racial equity may find themselves losing minorities in their student bodies because of the ruling Johnson predicts but schools who've made that a key priority early on could benefit.
"We want them to strive for Harvard if they so desire at Heath we’re going to put the tools in place to make sure they achieve that but at the end of the day there are many options for our young people we want to give them and that includes our historic black colleges and universities," said Johnson.